He was tall, but not as tall as me, with a lean frame and perfectly styled hair. When she smiled up at him, a jolt ran through me, and a muscle ticked in my jaw. Disappointment mixed with something much more dangerous coursed through me. I tipped back on my heels, needing to get a grip on myself. This girl was fucking trouble.
The guy leaned in closer, his mouth just above her ear, but he spoke loud enough for me to hear. “Oh, he’s hot and jealous.”
The fuck? He gave her another squeeze, then let go, burying his nose into the neck of the man behind him. In the seconds it took for me to catch up to what was happening, the shorter guy had wrapped his arms around him. Sidney gave them a warm smile, and relief flooded me, knowing the guy was already taken.
He held his hand out. “Hey, man. I’m Anthony, and this is Curtis.” He pointed to his boyfriend, who grinned at me.
“Jax.” I took a long sip of my beer, and everyone looked at me with identical smiles, but not Sidney. Her gaze was fucking molten. Oh, she liked me jealous. If she stuck around, I had a feeling she’d get what she wanted.
Her friend—I thought she said her name was Mia—grabbed Alex’s hand and began tugging him to the dance floor. “Let’s dance.”
He didn’t need any encouragement, already heading in that direction, and Anthony and Curtis followed them.
“We’ll catch up in a minute.” I stalked toward Sidney, happy she didn’t contradict me. No, her gaze was warm on my skin, and there was a slight smile ghosting over her lips. I practically towered over her, her slight frame completely blocked out by my larger one.
The group gave us knowing looks, then dispersed into the crowd.
A giant balloon floating above the table caught my attention. I swear my heart stopped dead as I stared at the blue congratulations balloon with a baby on it. All the blood drained from my head, and my attention went back to Sidney.
I swallowed hard. “Is that for you?”
Her mouth twitched and pulled to the side before she let out a laugh. “You should see your face right now.”
Her voice lowered with a subtle rasp, only made sexier by her amusement at the same time her grin grew, until it was practically blinding with pride. “My internship at Parliament was accepted today. Apparently, this was the only congratulations balloon available.” She laughed. “Anthony thought it was hilarious.”
Not pregnant. My muscles relaxed, and the circulation returned to my body as I slowly registered her words. “No shit, seriously?”
“Don’t be too impressed. I need another letter of recommendation. Those two got a little prematurely excited.” She nodded, watching me a bit too guarded. I fucking hated that she lost some of her confidence.
I leaned in closer. “Hey, you’ve got this.”
“How can you know that?”
I’m overwhelmed by the need to wipe the unsure look from her face. “I bet you’re at the top of your class, right?”
She bit the side of her cheek before answering, “Yeah.”
“You’ve already got other recommendations?”
“Yeah.” She stood straighter now. Good.
I pushed harder. “Do you think you can kick your internship’s ass?”
She smiled at me, eyes brighter than they were a second ago. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then don’t worry. You’ve got this.”
She let out a deep breath, and her entire body relaxed. I clipped her chin with my curled forefinger. “I’ll leave a good impression on you so you remember me when you make it big.”
Heat flushed across her chest, and I followed it up her neck, running my tongue along my top teeth. She was so fucking responsive. I wanted to find out if she blushed like that everywhere. She shifted forward but stopped herself with a hand on the table.
Come on, Sidney. Come get me.
She broke eye contact, looking at her hands. “Do you come here a lot?”
It was a random change of subject, but it was a start. “Enough to know you don’t.”
She huffed out a laugh and shrugged. “I don’t go out much. Busy preparing to be that ‘important politician’ you were talking about. I’ve got to keep my image clean.”
The things I wanted to do to her were anything but clean. I tipped my voice low until it was a gravelly rumble, forcing her to step into me to hear. “Do you go to school here, Sidney?”
She sucked in a breath when I said her name and bit her lower lip. Fuck. She needed to stop doing that. I was already too fucking turned on.
Her mouth pulled to the side. “Yeah, one semester left. I go to the University of Windsor.”
A spark of interest flashed in my chest. “Yeah?”
She gave me a quick nod, and that interest turned to anticipation of seeing more of her.
“Me too. Kinesiology major.” I moved in closer until the toes of our shoes brushed against each other, and she was forced to tip her chin up to meet my gaze. She took a deep breath in, and energy kicked up around us, drawing me closer. I lowered my head above her, keeping my voice steady. “I bet you’re a poli-sci, right?”
“You’ve got it.” Her throat lifted with her swallow.
Come on, Trouble. Ask me something.
She didn’t disappoint. “So, kinesiology, that’s impressive. Planning to work for some pro sports team when you graduate?”
“Something like that.” I rolled back on my heels, and she raised a brow. She studied me, clearly not happy with my vague answer, but I didn’t want to ruin this moment by bringing that into it.
Sidney stepped back, creating distance between us just as a server walked by. They connected with each other faster than I could warn them, sending Sidney tipping forward. I caught her in my arms, and her touch was like a live wire shooting straight through my veins. The scent of citrus—orange and grapefruit—surrounded me, and I had to fight back a groan. Heat practically poured off her where we connected, soaking into my skin. She stared at my mouth, eyes dark, teeth sinking into her perfect full bottom lip. She didn’t move, and I didn’t interrupt her as she took me in fully. Fuck, the way she was staring at me turned me the fuck on. I swallowed hard, then lowered my lips above her ear and murmured, “Caught you.”
“I… I didn’t mean—” she said, flustered.
Deciding to put her out of her misery, I gestured toward our friends. “At this point, if Alex gets any closer to Mia, they’re going to become one.”
She lifted onto her toes, placing a hand on my shoulder for balance, and craned her neck to see them. I knew she felt my low rumble under her soft touch.
Her fingers curled into my shirt, but she didn’t face me when she said, “Is he always like this?”
I lowered my chin to her ear, focused on the millions of goosebumps that rose over her skin. “A shameless flirt? Pretty much.”
Sidney leaned back, her gaze traveling from my mouth to my eyes, and I spread my fingers over her back, tugging her closer. She made a soft sound that had my breath catching in my throat and my dick growing hard. I searched her face, wanting—no, needing—to know that she felt this too. That I wasn’t the only one driven fucking crazy just being near her.
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip before a sensual grin formed on her mouth. “Are you hitting on me?”